Tag Archives: Update

Finishing

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It’s been a weekend of actually finishing things. I feel really good about the number of things I’ve accomplished. Thing about finishing all that other stuff was that I didn’t get much of anything accomplished here.

Found accomplishment clip art? Check.

I was finally able to finish the redecoration of our guest room (with one exception of work I don’t feel qualified to do). Back to reasonably comfortable in there.

Finished the edits for a story that will be published later this year or early next year. I’m excited for that to come out. It was a fun story to write.

Finished a contest entry and submitted it. I can’t post anything about it until after the contest is decided – I don’t think? I’m honestly not sure, but there’s a lot there to write up. I stretched outside my normal work routines and regular artistic endeavors to create a potion bottle prop. It did not live up to the vision in my head at all, but it is finished and in – and that’s a good feeling.

I finished reading a quick little book this weekend too – and I’m around 2/3 of the way through another. Good stories and even more “getting stuff done” vibe to add.

I just need to keep that vibe rolling through the week and get to updating some stuff around here and… Oh, yeah. Writing more.

What projects have you wrapped up lately?

The ever present “I’m Back” post…

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It happens to bloggers all the time. “Hey, I’m back!” because real life has a way of stamping down on free writing and laying out words with no real return. I have no doubt that I’ll be back here for a bit and then real life will come crashing in again and make a hash of things. It’s happened an awful lot over the years. I don’t apologize for it anymore. It happens.

I’ve got a lot of catching up to do. I’ve posted before about the slump I hit at the end of last year. It’s been a struggle to get past that. I think I’m doing it. I’ve got 2 stories out for consideration right now and a third, based on an invitation I received, is due in this week. The writing is moving along.

Reading is making a comeback too. It has been more of a struggle to stay invested in the work of others than ever before, but I’ve found a couple of things worth reading.

I’ve also picked up a few shows and taken the time to watch them. I have to say that Netflix has figured out the formula. I can watch when my schedule permits and otherwise just ignore the TV. It’s not easy to just ignore an addiction. Breaking the habit is hard to do. To that end I have dropped all but the most basic television connection. I keep the most basic just to allow better reception of local channels (PBS in particular) and have watched maybe one show in the past month via scheduled broadcast. The funny thing is – I don’t even have to do that. The show I watch has all their episodes posted on line. It’s just something of a routine when a lazy Saturday morning happens to come about.

In generally getting things back in order and attempting to catch up with everything I’ve gone slack on I’m also going to attempt to get things around the old Pretend Blog into better shape. I know the six of you that read here will be thrilled.

Next up – catching up on my book reviews and Goodreads posts. After that – I should really update the part where I promote myself better!

Work Swallowed August

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It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything. That’s one of those traps with blogs – you have these gaps at odd times for various lengths and if people catch your blog at just the wrong moment then you’ve lost them. They think you never update or that you’ve blog faded or whatever. Well, I haven’t blog faded. I’m as inconsistent as I have ever been. Work (the day job supporting all this cool stuff) swallowed the month of August. The ravening beast of overtime licked his chops, bit down and shook me like a rag toy. I got flung to the side at some point and I crashed pretty hard. It’s hard to work up the desire to sit at the computer and type after you’ve done that for 10 or 12 or 14 hours at a pop for the day job. My wrists hurt, my elbows were inflamed enough for my wife to feel the heat radiating off them and my back was… painful. In short, that sucked and I’d like to avoid doing it again. I made it through – how well is yet to be seen.

In the middle of that mess I was able to attend Intervention 6. I had the pleasure of helping out with the children’s programming track again this year. I think it says something that staffing at a convention was a welcome relief from my work schedule. There weren’t a ton of kids there this year. I’m not sure why. Some of the kids have grown past the “little kids” program level. Some have made the return trip year after year, but it’s difficult to gauge the program not knowing who we’re going to get. I haven’t quite figured out how to make that work better. I’d normally give a review of the rest of the convention, but I really didn’t see it. I was there, I walked past it, I even chatted with some of the other folks there. Missed all the other program stuff. I can tell you there are some crazy talented folks working out there that deserve your attention. I can tell you that I’ve found a couple of folks that I may recruit to help with children’s programming next year – they were spectacular with the kids. In the end, the kids seemed happy and that was really the whole point. I call that a win.

I’m getting my writing geared up again too. All the submissions I had out there came back (rejected) during the month that was eaten so it’s time to get out there and keep trying. There are things on the way though – I’m hoping to have a guest blog appearance during banned books week! I’m sure there are other things I’m forgetting, but I’ll keep everyone posted as I remember them…

Social Test

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So – it’s been forever since I was going to have my posts here connect to social media. I made an effort today to form that connection correctly. I have doubts that this actually worked, but this is the test. Hopefully this will show up on my “wall” without further intervention from me.

Birthday

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As I sit here there are fingers reaching up from my neck and squeezing the back of my head. I’d lift my arm to rub my head and relieve the pressure but the stabbing pain in my shoulder only allows my arm to reach the halfway point before turning back. My feet are tingling because I’ve stressed my back to the point where I should walk away from this infernal machine and rest…

Or happy birthday to me.

I’m two years gone from the answer to life, the universe and everything and somehow feel as if the answers are truly getting further away. What’s coming closer though is an amazing person that my daughter is growing up to be. I’m uncertain how that’s happening, but I am so glad that it is. Also coming closer is a day when my lovely wife will be back on her feet (both of them) with her heart completely back in working order so we can keep wandering down the road of life together (and leave behind the crutches)!

I don’t celebrate much anymore, but I did really like the ice cream cake I shared with my family on Sunday (thanks Mom!). There should be more ice cream cake in the world, I think that would help. It was a small thing to have a mini celebration, but it was nice to mark the occasion. I’m glad we had that time together as a family.

Today was particularly excellent. The adjustment bureau took the day off and my travels were so smooth and quick I was way, way ahead of schedule. Work wrapped up early and I got home early. My lovely wife grilled some chicken for dinner and I am so happy she is working her way back to being able to handle the cooking – I like what she makes better than the pitiful handful of things I can work up.

So I’m a year older, a year further along but also a year happier than I’ve ever been despite all the bumps and potholes along the way. I am really looking forward to another wonderful year.

Balticon Follow Up

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The title here is a bit of a tease honestly. I don’t have enough of my thoughts pulled together to write anything even remotely coherent about the convention just now. I want to do the review justice. It was a short week back at work, but I suspect they crammed more into the schedule just to be certain they made up for Monday’s lost time. This has put the squeeze on my writing time.

Short version – it was a really good convention that once again flew past far more quickly than it should have. IF you’ve not been out to a local convention and you’re a fan, you’re missing out.

I normally hold off until the next WTS fanzine, but I think the number of weeks beyond the convention we’ll be at that point would lose some of the impact.

So – more to follow – starting with my first panel this year… the one where I was sitting next to Brandon Sanderson. Yes, that Brandon Sanderson.

Shifting Sand

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I find it a bit stunning that it’s been 2 weeks since I’ve posted here. The whirlwind that is my schedule has made time blur and shift like sand. At times I feel about as stable as sand, but I wouldn’t trade the things I do.
One of the things I do is go to conventions – and Balticon is almost here! I am really looking forward to going this weekend and getting to reconnect with folks I don’t get to spend enough time with. It looks to be an amazing weekend. IF you get the chance, get to the convention. You can find out about it here: http://www.balticon.org/ . The daily rates are posted for anyone that can’t stay the entire weekend along with a preliminary convention schedule.
I have my first panel Friday at 6 pm… and the guest of honor will be there too. I suddenly feel the need to go study economics.
Hope to see you there!

Time Delay

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It’s a challenge to keep things up to date here at the site lately. The new video card for the computer arrived today. The last piece to finish fixing / updating the computer. Soon we should have additional RAM, new video and TWO new wide screens up and running. Being able to actually work on the home computer again as opposed to being limited to the work system should help things considerably!

As far as the actual work – still getting the rejections piling up. Just got another one, this time from Wicked Words Quarterly. One of these days something is going to stick.

More Soon.